SCSI isn't dead, though it is mutating - SCSI protocols over serial
channels like FC/AL haul serious amounts of data in many large
systems, and offer configuration options and flexibility unheard
of in the PC (and NetBSD, for the most part) sectors.

I expect to see the same thing over the slower FireWire and USB(?),
and others in the future.

One of the things that SCSI has been known for since its inception
is the (sometimes bewildering) range of electrical/physical media
over which the logical protocols are carried. This is just extension
of an established progression, which includes the ATAPI stuff that's
ubiquitous on PCs today.

Chances are, if a vendor provides an on-board scsi controller in
their machine, it's not the one i wanted anyway - either not upscale
enough or more than i needed to pay for. I'd rather  have extra
PCI slots to use as I wish, including for the existing controllers
i have that go with the disks i'm reusing (as a general rule).
With the widespread adoption of PCI, this is a very clear advantage
over previous times.

FireWire shows promise, and is popular in the video crowd.
As for ADB and the others mentioned, I tend to agree that the
vendors are being gratuitously incompatible for marketing reasons
- that'shardly anything new, least of all from Apple! I'm not really
sure why people are so upset now, though - the new machines seem
to me to support all of these! (for how long?) and the iMac is
trying to be a new trendsetter (and low-price).

If you want something to mourn, mourn the lack of an rs-232 port
and the funny constructions you'll have to build to get one.

--
Dan.